Such oil pans are usually comprised of plastic material and comprise an oil suction pipe for draining the oil contained in the oil pan wherein the inlet opening of the suction pipe is covered by an oil screen by means of which dirt particles are filtered out.
DE 10 2006 014 854 A1 discloses an oil pan for an internal combustion engine that has a pan body with a cylindrically embodied section arranged within an area of the inwardly positioned pan bottom; on the cylindrically embodied section a cover member with integrated oil pipe can be attached. In the cover member an opening facing upwardly is provided that is positioned so as to be spaced from the pan bottom and has the function of an inlet opening for the oil to be sucked out wherein the inlet opening is covered by a screen that forms a filter element. According to one embodiment variant disclosed in DE 10 2006 014 854 A1, the cover member and the screen can be embodied as a conjoint composite body that is comprised of plastic resin.
From the prior it can be seen that the inlet opening is covered by the oil screen positioned above the pan bottom, therefore a complete removal of the oil and emptying of the oil pan is not possible. There remains a need in the art for an oil pan configured to overcome these limitations in the prior art.